Boost to madrasas

THE Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education Act, 2004, has sent out a strong message that the rights of minorities will be safeguarded at any cost. The Muslim community in UP, a BJP-ruled state which has become synonymous with bulldozer justice, has every reason to hail the verdict. The madrasas in the state had been under threat after the Allahabad High Court scrapped the 20-year-old law earlier this year, stating that these schools violated the constitutional tenet of secularism. The apex court has set aside the HC verdict, thus ensuring that lakhs of students will not be shifted to conventional institutions.

Madrasas have been on the ‘hit list’ of the saffron party in recent years not only in UP but also in states such as Assam and Madhya Pradesh. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also been in the thick of things; last month, it wrote to the chief secretaries of all states and union territories, recommending that madrasa boards be closed down, state funding to the institutions be stopped and the children studying there be enrolled in ‘formal’ schools. The NCPCR’s unconvincing contention is that the education imparted to children in madrasas is not ‘comprehensive’ or ‘proper’; the commission has gone to the extent of accusing these schools of not complying with provisions of the Right to Education Act.

It is hoped that the SC ruling will help in curbing the brazen vilification of madrasas. These institutions are being targeted on the pretext that they are breeding grounds for religious fanatics and terrorists. Weeding out the black sheep is no doubt important, but attempts to dismantle the entire madrasa system reek of intolerance and hatred. Such nefarious moves are undermining the secular credentials of India, aptly described by the Supreme Court as a melting pot of cultures, civilisations and religions.